Madina Shaik’s Inspiring Journey in Real Estate and Entrepreneurship

Pamela Bardhi: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Underdog podcast. Today I have an incredible guest here with me, Medina. How are you, my friend?

Madina Shaik: Very good, Pamela. How are you doing?

Pamela Bardhi: I’m doing wonderful. I know you’re out in Houston. I’m here in Boston. They kind of rhyme. All I know is the main thing right now is that it’s hot as hell in both places, especially Houston. I can only imagine, I think I saw somebody, baking bread in a mailbox in Houston. Most recently, they put it with the pan in their mailbox. and then 1 hour later opened it up and there was a full loaf of bread.

Madina Shaik: Yes, that’s true. Today it’s in little better. 95. It was, 99 and 102, last week. But where I came from, I think it is.  I, feel at home, really? Yeah, in India, so it’s a hot and humid.

Pamela Bardhi: I love that, I can’t wait to get into your story in full detail, my friend. Seriously, you’ve got such an impressive story. and what you’ve built in the investing space is really incredible.

What inspired you on your journey to where you are today, my friend

Pamela Bardhi: So I’m going to start off with my first question for you. because I’m interested to know, how did this all start? We mentioned before the call, you came to Boston and you lived up in Lowell. This is the first place that, this first state that you’ve been to. What inspired you on your journey to where you are today, my friend?

Madina Shaik: I born and brought up in, a really small village in, India. So, village is like, maybe there are not even 100 families there. Maybe 50 families, I think. So, my parents, they are into agriculture. We have some land, and that’s pretty much our, bread and butter. Okay. And, we had no electricity in our village. I can imagine. until I went to college, we did not even have electricity. that’s pretty much where I came frOm. 

So, I did okay in, school, went to college and undergrad. and, also then I did, masters, because my dad wanted me to do a master’s. because I was not ready. I thought, maybe I’ll go and do some job. because he needs some help, financially. But he said, no, we had to do a master’s because I did pretty good in school. So the government was paying me, to go to, do my masters. that’s how I finished the masters, before I finished the masters. my dad, fixed the match, actually. 

So he found some girl. he said, you need to get married. Okay? So, that’s what happened. And then I got a job, in, I, worked there for a year. And my company I was working for, they, shipped me to Boston. That’s how I, landed here. again, the story is that the job I was doing, whatever I saved up, they said, I’m going to, Boston. It’s going to be really cold. 

I need to buy a bunch of winter clothing. So whatever the money I saved, I went and, did the shopping. So, that’s pretty much my savings. And so, whatever the change I left with. I converted that into dollars in the airport. got, $20, so that’s my, $20 story. Actually, I just came to us with $20.

Pamela Bardhi: Wow. And what happened from that point on. looking at what you’ve done now is unbelievable. It’s so incredible. And people, of course, look at you and they’re like, oh, my goodness, this is overnight success. But you and I know it was.

Madina Shaik: Well, overnight, unless you get the lottery or something. So even, if you get the lottery, it’s not going to be a real success. because most of the lottery winners end up being poor again, right. I came in as a tech, worker, worked, with my, limited, English and limited knowledge. I had nobody in the US, pretty much no relatives, no friends, so I worked hard. Luckily, I got my green, card in a couple of years. 

When I came in, after I got my green card, I was, trying tO, do my own, freelancing. kind of stuff, being it worker. So my customer said, no, we cannot pay you directly. you need to have your own corporation or something. So that’s how I was forced to, open my corporation, actually. I was not even thinking about. anyway, so fast forward, I become a US citizen. Got my contract with the, US army, actually. 

So, that’s where I moved to, actually, I was traveling to, Washington, DC, from Houston on a weekly basis. And I was working on the project. And, my customer, us army, they’re a us, army medical, command. They have some warehouses in other different countries. So I used to travel, implementing a solution. So, I did that for ten years while I was doing that. I, developed my, company. Remember, I was working for my own company as an employee. I was the only employee. 

So I, developed that company, developed the relationship in DC in that government contracting market. Companies like IBMs or, big companies, right? So, got some subcontracting work, developed the past. Like, to do work in the government. you need to have your past experience of working with them. It’s like a cash 22 kind of stuff. the only way you can do that is being a subcontractor. small guy in a big project with a big company. 

So that’s what I did. And, developed the, ah, enough calls, qualifications you need. So we start bidding on some of the projects. again, we were successful. We, have several, prime contracts right now, close, to 500 employees. we do work mostly with the Department of Defense. that’s where, most of my 500 employees are working. that was my it company. I hired a right team. And I have a chief operating officer, a CFO. a lot of program managers, vice presidents of operations. They do this day to day, operations of that company. 

So, until Covid, hits, I was, traveling to DC every week. So when the COVID started, all my, meetings in DC got canceled. I didn’t have to travel, so I was at home getting bored. Actually, I had this real estate stuff back, on my mind. I should invest, and I need to get more deeper into the real estate. 

But I never had time to do it because of my schedule. because me traveling, to DC every week. COVId helped me get into the real estate. Yeah. One was I had a free time. Two, was because our it company is growing. So I had to, find a way to, save some, income, tax. Right. So, the best way to, save taxes is to, get into more in real estate.

Macan started small buying single family homes, then moved to multifamily complexes

Madina Shaik: I don’t know. I’m sure you already know that. With a lot of depreciations and, other tax benefits. Okay. That’s exactly what I did. And, I just started small and, buying a bunch of single family homes, just to get some idea. I did close to 100 of them in one year. And I said, too much, work. because I could not scale up with the single family, one closing one at a time. It’s very hard going to title companies and doing the stuff right. So I said, okay, I need to scale up. 

So that’s why? I looked at the multifamily apartment, complexes. So I can just go there and buy 100, 200, 300 apartments with the one transaction. Okay. and also you have a dedicated team for that particular property in the single family. The single family homes are, spread out everywhere. Maintenance of that, it’s a kind of a headache. Houston is so big. From one side of the Houston to other side takes more than an hour. Okay. 

so the single family was, I could not scale up. so I moved to the multifamily. Because of that reason, I scale up. Plus I have a dedicated team M at the property. like a maintenance people, property manager, leasing assistants, all of this. fast forward. Again, I started off, just investing myself. but, whatever, money I have, I could do only certain number of, properties. what I did is lIke, okay, I’m already doing this for myself, saving taxes. Why can’t I offer this to other people? Plus scale up, go and buy bigger properties and more properties. 

So I offered that to other high net worth, individuals. We do not have time to go and do the investment in the real estate and take advantage of that. I’m, like they had to go and look for the property, underwrite. go and do the loan and also work with the rehab and manage those properties. That’s like more than a full time job if you’re entrepreneur. let’s say you’re doing some, it work. this is like, you do not have that much time to go and do it. So what I was just doing is I already spent the time. and invested money and time and I already, have a great team. 

Why can’t we offer this to other folks they can take advantage of? Plus they don’t have to go and fix those, toilets. and, take, care of the day to day tenant issues. That’s pretty much where the Macan investment group, came into existence, actually. Now we have around, 3500 units, around, $350,000,000 assets. and we manage again, continue, to, underwrite, continue to look for the properties. like to, continue to buy those properties as we speak. Right now I’m buying a $45 million, 330 unit apartment complex in Katie, Texas. which is a nicer, neighborhood, actually. So that’s the one we are going to do, deliverance right now.

Pamela Bardhi: I absolutely love that.

Medina’s journey from civil engineering to real estate has been fascinating

Pamela Bardhi: man, you’ve got a lot going on. and what an interesting journey going from it to real estate and just everything. It’s fascinating to me now I want to reel it back just a little bit. because we’re going to connect all the dots here. What did you want to be when you grew up? Because you said you grew up in the village in India and there was no electricity. So what was your motivation growing up? What did you want to be as an adult?

Madina Shaik: Actually, honestly, growing up, I really wanted to be a civil engineer. Okay. I m ended up in the computer side. but I really wanted to be a civil engineer. So now it’s kind of, all, coming together. because now we are building a new apartment complexes. So I’m like kind of playing the civil engineering side of it. But it was not. But growing up, I really wanted to be a civil engineer. Okay.

Pamela Bardhi: That’S so cool. Oh, my goodness. And who or what inspired you from a young age?

Madina Shaik: It’s my dad pretty much. My dad was not educated, but, he saw the future for me. the parents have their instincts. So he, used to tell me that. when you grow up, I see you are going to spend more time in the air than on the ground. So now I was just sitting here and traveling. I said, how does he know when I was like less than, ten year old. that what I’m going to be doing in when I grow up? 

Right. we lost him. But I just wonder sometime and say, how does he know? Because I’m traveling a lot. Okay. So, he’s uneducated, so he has no idea about where the US is and nothing. So he’s just a small farmer. he just do the agriculture work.

Pamela Bardhi: That’s incredible. It’s crazy how the parents have that instinct and that intuition that’s so fascinating.

You worked very hard to get where you are. But what were some of the biggest challenges

Pamela Bardhi: And then coming to the US too. because this is something that a lot of people don’t talk about. They talk about, oh, yeah, you come here as land of opportunity. Yes, it is. But what would be, through your experience. what were some of the biggest challenges that you faced when you did get here. and started basically building yourself right from the ground up, if you will? 

because none of this came overnight for you. You worked very hard to get where you are. So for anybody who, for all the immigrants out there that are maybe new to this country. or thinking about coming here, expats, whatever they may be. what were some of your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them. and what would be your advice to them?

Madina Shaik: This is the only country in the whole world where you have freedom, resources, ah, opportunities. If you honestly wants to, work hard and, with honesty, obViously. So, yes, there is no limit, for the growth. Okay. but if you are, just come here and say, okay, somebody helped me out. that’s not happening. Right. So, for me, I just came with the fire in the belly and as, a passionate about. And also, I never seen the money. for me, money was not a motivation. 

First of all, I don’t know why I love that. Yeah. Because where I came from, I never seen the money. Okay. And obviously the family background, we hardly see the money. So for me, even today, whatever I do, I don’t look at the money side of it. I really like this one. It’s, the satisfaction. Plus, I’m helping other people. And also I’m just trying to prove that, okay, yes, you could grow. 

There’s no limit. So it’s kind of for somebody watching you say, okay, yes. this guy who’s not that smart and can’t really speak good English. but he is doing it. I should be able to do better than him. So I just want to be example. yeah, that’s pretty much for me. A lot of people say, okay, how much money did I make this month, this year? Really? That was not my measurement, actually, unfortunately. I don’t know. Okay, maybe it’s a good and bad. but, that’s the reason I think I have most, of my employees. they are with me for a long time. because I’m not talking in terms of, money, when I talk to them. 

So I talk to them. First of all, what is in there for them? Why they should be working for me. So, I kind of more think from their point of view. I, put myself in their shoes and say. I don’t want you to just work for me. If you are working from eight to five, I really don’t want you to work for me. Okay? that’s why, when I bring in, folks, I look for that thing. we are pretty much working all the time, I have a team. 

We’re texting back and forth, even at like 10:00 in the night, so nobody is looking. Okay. Hey, at 05:00 I’m off. I’m going home. I try to example, on this, and when we buy a property. like, leT’s say last one we bought was $120,000,000. So I do bring in, my, executives, as partners, it could be a smaller percentage. but they are part of that property, part of that. they do have some shares in that company which owns that property. Okay. 

So they feel the ownership because they’re not eligible to invest in that property. because we take only, according to SEC. we take only the accredited investors who has a net worth was more than million dollars. You know that definition? But I make them make sure they participate in that. They do have some percentage of share in that property. So they feel that. The ownership of that. 

So, ah, they’re not working for somebody eight to five kind of stuff. even though they are w two employees. But I’m just trying to make, sure they participate in that upside. So when we sell the property down the road, they do make, good, enough money. And they say when they are working day to day. so they know that, okay, hey, I’m working for myself partly, basically. Plus you’re getting paid for it, right?

Pamela Bardhi: Yes. I love that. I love that your motivation has always been not money. because some people come here and it’s like, that’s what it’s about. And then you think about like, oh my God, how much am I making this month? How much? So I love the mindset of helping people. and really helping build something solid. 

And even in your company structure now that you offer that equity stake to your employees. I think that’s really key. I think we’re entering a time and place where people don’t just want to work. they want to work somewhere where they feel appreciated. that they’re part of something and all of that. So I absolutely love that. I love that mindset.

Madina Shaik: Yeah. I never do any unilateral decision. I do bring the team in and I get, buying. so, ah, ah, they again feel they’re part of the decision making. even on my other company or even real estate. pretty much I follow the same. 

And also, I’m getting good at scaling the companies, scaling the business. So, that’s the main component is like identifying, who can do the stuff. So I never look for how can I do it? I always say who can do this? Okay. I love that. Yeah.

Medina: I try to look at the forest instead of the trees

Madina Shaik: When you start looking at, say, I try to look at the, forest instead of the trees. so that way you’re not, drowned in that, details. and you don’t have time to go. and see what other opportunities out there. that’s where I hire people, where I’m weak, actually. I’m not really detailed person, which is working out. Okay. So I’m looking at more strategic, stuff.

Pamela Bardhi: Yeah, for sure. Medina, I love that you mentioned that. because I want to get back to how do you scale and delegate?

You went from it to real estate investing to multifamily real estate investment

Pamela Bardhi: But before we do that, you mentioned that you went from it real estate investing to multifamily real estate investing. and COVId pushed you into that. So while most people were freaking out about life, you were building something new.

Madina Shaik: Yeah.

Pamela Bardhi: Which I think is amazing. So how did you make that pivot? Because for some people, it could be super scary if your it and real estate are very parallel realms. It feels like. So how did you make that jump, and what were your first steps, in pivoting into that space?

Madina Shaik: I had some idea about the real estate. because I bought few single, family homes and one fourplex in 2010. I didn’t have time, I gave it to some property management company to, manage it. So I get that monthly statement. say what problems are coming and stuff like that. but I really know, I want to tell this again to your audience. Real estate is not a rocket science. It’s very, basic. Everybody, all of us have some knowledge about. Because you own or you rent a place, you pretty much know. Okay. 

The only thing you don’t know is that how do I get, funding? Where can I borrow and, where can I get the equity? What if I cannot borrow? What can I do? There are ways. So they maybe don’t know that piece. but otherwise, the real estate is pretty much, not the rocket science. So how I got in, I had a little bit idea. and also I had the idea about getting deeper into real estate one day. but that one day, I did not know. 

So the COVID kind of brought that one day to me. Okay. I went through a bunch of books online, spoke to some people who are in real estate. and also I invested as a passive in, somebody else apartment complexes. so I kind of know, the lifecycle of, the apartment complex. How do you identify, how do you underwrite. There are a lot of books on it. How do you asset manage it, How do you property management it? I do read, and I pick up, stuff faster. 

So I do read, by the way, plus I do talk to people. go to a couple of conferences, go to networking events. But again, at the, COVId time, there’s not much going on. the books were pretty much my, source of information. How do people raise the money? How do they raise the equity when you want to buy the property? I read a lot of books. and the main thing is not that I said I’m not smart. so I start hiring who are doing the work in that space. Okay. 

so I took almost two years, remember, I bought 3500 units, which is like almost $350,000,000. So, we did not buy anything for last one year. because I just want to make sure, stabilize and build a strong team. Build a strong foundation because we still just got started. Okay? $350,000,000 is not much. where we want to go. that’s why I took a break for almost a year, building the team, building the processes. because I’m a, technology guy, okay.

 I don’t want anybody doing anything manual. So I want everything on the system. I want pretty much real time. If a dollar coming in or a dollar going out, I want that on the system. Show up right away. Okay, so nothing off the record. so that’s pretty much what we did. And now, we’re just buying that, $45 million asset right now as we speak. we’ll continue to buy more. 

And I have a strong team. We do underwrite every day, we get a lot of deals from, off market, from bigger, brokers in town. Most of them are nationwide companies. we do get, deals from Texas, Florida, and other companies, other states. And we try to focus on the more, like landlord, friendly states. Yeah. So you know which one I’m talking, about. It’s more, Republican states. they are landlord friendly. 

So that’s pretty much where we are. But right now we have, properties in Texas and also, memphis, Tennessee. Okay. So that’s the only two states we have. But going forward, we will be buying in Florida, South and North Carolina and Georgia. That’s, where we are going next.

Pamela Bardhi: I absolutely love that, Medina. I love that.

What advice would you give to investors looking to start an investment fund

Pamela Bardhi: And what piece of advice would you give to anybody who’s looking to start an investment fund. or anything like that out there or looking to invest into a fund. So I guess the investors and then those entrepreneurs that are looking to, start their own thing. because going from it to real estate. it still blows my mind how you were able to make that pivot in so fast, too.

Madina Shaik: Both of them. Somebody wants to do the passive. somebody wants to say, okay, hey, you know what? I would like to, buy myself and manage it. I still recommend you, invest in it. Doesn’t need to be with us, but somebody, who’s buying a, decent asset with a good returns, fundamentals. check the numbers, ask the questions. Invest as a passive, invest a, smaller amount could be 50,000, 100,000. 

So you are part of that process. You learn a lot of things because you are part of, the webinars. You run through the deal, You look at the financials. because we send the financials on a monthly basis. Okay, You know what we’re doing at the property? What are the expenses? All the details come to you because you are a part owner. Even though you are a, passive investor, you get all the details. 

So I would recommend you do at least one or two, even, if you want to do it on your own. So that way you learn faster. Okay. Instead of reading a book, you could pick a lot of things from the book. But if you are, passive investor. let’s say, the one we are doing right now, $45 million, let’s say you put $100,000. You are, ah, invited to, the deal, analysis. You see where we are getting a loan, how much interest we are paying. what other expenses we underwrote. 

Ah, what is the performer, income, is going to be, what is the expenses? You get a lot of those, plus you get a monthly statements. Okay. This is what we planned performer. And when you get that monthly, you see how we are performing. So you learn a lot of things from that. Okay, so if I have a 300 unit apartment, how many people are working? There is a manager, assistant manager, how many maintenance guys. you get that knowledge because if you are part of it, okay

 so, yes, for those two categories. whether you just want to be passive or if you want to go and buy it. just experiment that being a passive for at least one or two days. or you partner with somebody who is buying it. So that way now you are really technically not in a driver’s seat. but you’re co driver or co pilot. Right? you learn that.

Pamela Bardhi: I absolutely love that Mindina. And those are for those who want to invest in a fund. It’s almost like they’re part owners. and they’re on the ride with you, which is really cool. but they don’t have to do the actual work.

Madina Shaik: They’re like, ah, in a co pilot. So, you’re watching what the pilot is doing. but you invested some money or you don’t have to technically sign the loan. we did, take a couple of people. Normally I do it myself, but if somebody come in and say, hey, I, want to invest some learn. we call it a cozyp. It’s a co, general partner. Okay. So, depends on what his share is. he doesn’t need to even sign the loan. 

So, the last, one I signed was $120,000,000 we borrowed. I signed that one. Okay. if somebody wants to learn, and again, our wEbsite, it’s makaninvestmentgroup.com. so, ah, it’ll take less than 30 seconds. they can just put their name and contact information. Someone will get back to them right away. 

And they go into our database, if we are doing some free webinars, how the multifamily works. or if we have a deal going on, we will invite people, listen to our, deal. how we underwrote and what this property is, what we are planning to do with the property. We go into detail on that. So you get the invitation for those. if you are not ready, don’t have to invest. but at least visit our website and register there. 

Pamela Bardhi: That’s, ah, awesome, Medina. That’s awesome.

You’ve built a multifamily fund in less than three years

Pamela Bardhi: And for the investors, the real estate, investors that are listening, according to your experience. what are some biggest tips, when looking at a property? Like how do you know it’s a great investment property? Because now you’ve built a multifamily fund, you’re ah, at 350,000,000 in three years now.

Madina Shaik: No, it’s less than three years.

Pamela Bardhi: Less than three years. That’s amazing.

Madina Shaik: Remember, we did not buy anything for last 14 months.

Pamela Bardhi: Yeah.

Madina Shaik: Crazy.

What is the hidden secret, Medina, of how you find these incredible investment deals

Pamela Bardhi: What is the hidden secret, Medina, of how you find these incredible, incredible investment deals?

Madina Shaik: Again, as I said, there’s not real secret. it’s just a relationship with, your, real estate agents or your brokers in the area. who are specialized in the multifamily. you run into a lot of real estate agents. They do a single family homes, where you buy and you live there or you rent it. But there are, special brokers for all they do is, a, commercial multifamily. Okay. So there are at least four or five nationwide, brokers. 

We do meet them, we do invite them for luncheons. we tell them what we’re doing, what we’re planning to do. So they love to, because once they know that you are serious. and you can close the deals and you’re growing. So obviously when they have a seller who wants to sell. let’s say 500 unit apartment coMplex. first thing they call you and say, hey, I have off market deal. do you, want to take a look I say, yeah. because we have our in house underwriters. my financial guides, they took that rent role. 

And the financial statement for last, trailing twelve months. we put it in our model and see how it things comes up with all the expenses. and rent growth in the area. we do that, plus we do the neighborhood. we check, see how there’s any growth. Who are the employers and who are the average income in that area? So there are, in the apartments. there are Class A, Class B, Class C, there are Class Ds and E’s, also.

But we focus on the Class B. It’s not the Class A, but the Class B. Class B is like pretty much, ah, where, it’s not really fancy, fancy apartment. but this is a workforce, living. Okay. so our goal is to provide a safe, secure and clean, environment for our tenants. That’s pretty much what we do. They’re all workforce, tenants actually, for us. So that’s Class B. And also when we take the Class B, we look at that property. Is there any value add? Value add means can I go there and upgrade the units? 

Can I go and put the granite countertops or change the cabinets or change the flooring? Put the vinyl flooring? Okay, so, is there any other thing I can add? Okay, can I go and add some dog park or that kind of stuff? We look at it, say, what can I do? I don’t want to just buy something. just sit at the property and collect the rent. So we don’t do that. When you look at the apartment, there is opportunity to make this from Class, B to Class B plus. 

And when we do that, and we also increase the rent. because when you obviously spend the money and we are giving a, better unit for my tenant. they don’t mind paying another $100, $150 or 200 based on what we did to the unit. so that’s how we increase the value of the property. So when you increase the income, your net operating income goes up, keeping the expenses same. 

so that means you are increasing the value of the property. That’s the business plan, actually. So again, it’s not that difficult. but you need to identify, again, good location. Obviously, you know, the real estate is a good location, location, location. And again, have a good team, your property manager, assessment manager, take care of that. They genuinely take care of the tenants. because all they’re looking, they’re paying the rent right when they need you. 

You have there. Okay. So, that’s pretty much what I, trying to do with that. And, again, as I said, we implement the systems, the rents, no collection, in the office. No, money orders, no checks, no cash. It’s all online. So, go straight to the bank. And everything is black and white. we keep it clean, professional. because we want to grow to, multibillion dollar company. 

We do this when you’re small. It’s a lot easier having these processes work implement when you are small. When you’re big, it’s very hard to, do it. because, people don’t like it if you try to add some processes down the road. So we do that when you’re small. That’s exactly what we did.

Pamela Bardhi: I absolutely love that, Medina. that’s fascinating. And I love that you did niche, too, right? Like, you focused on workforce housing, which is incredible. So you really want to target down. Yes, I love that.

Madina Shaik: And again, the new thing we are doing, me, I want to do something new. So, ah, instead of buying, selling this, 19, eighty s. Nineteen ninety product, what we are doing is we are identifying, land and the, growth potential areas. We buy the land, we, entitle it. We get the zoning, get the conceptual plan, fuel plan. So we kind of trying to build a m. Multifamily apartment complexes. that’s like more than 100% value add. 

Remember that if I’m buying an existing property. all I’m doing is I’m changing outside. paint or something or interior, countertops or your cabinets and flooring and, then, stainless steel appliances. You are limited what you can do. But if you are doing something from ground up. So you can do a lot of, amenities and, attract, the, customer structure, the tenants. So we are trying to do that one. And also there is, supposed to be, You’re creating more value. going from dirt to some beautiful building.

The variation of that is, um, uh, senior living

Madina Shaik: That’s, the great satisfaction you get, doing that. So we are doing a new construction for just a multifamily plus. the variation of that is, senior living. So, as you know, in us there are a lot of aging population. They do need some senior living, assisted living kind of places. it’s like a multifamily, but a little bit more services, the food service and, the other support staff. 

So we have two projects right now, in the Northwest, Houston. we are, in the final stages of finalizing the design and going for, the loan and the groundbreak stuff. So, that’s the other thing we are doing. Again, as I said, God willing, we will be, growing. but again, for me, I’m not worried. It’s with the good intentions. And, we will, love that.

Pamela Bardhi: I love that, Medina. I love that you were mentioning the systems and processes are really the key to delegation. And now you’re getting into a different model. which is very complementary to what you’re know. It’s just adding a few more services and things like that, which I love.

Medina, your real estate journey is really remarkable and incredible

Pamela Bardhi: Medina,  your real estate journey is really remarkable and incredible. Just your whole journey in general. And this is my favorite question for you, which I love. And that you could take this business personal, whatever it is. but what would your older self tell your younger self based on what you know now?

Madina Shaik: again, where I came from with the, humble beginning. So I, want to do something big, but I did not have, resources. So I would say I should have started early on. I came here, when I turned 24. But when you are that age, you are offered to make a lot of mistakes. And, where I am right now, I can make a lot of mistakes. but I’m still taking a risk every day.

No risk, no reward. And, also, otherwise it will be boring. So, yes, if I was, at the age of 24, I would have started, gone in. if I knew some people with the resources who can support you. But I did not know, there are a lot of people with the money. they don’t know what to do with that. And so they are looking for somebody like me to come in and say. okay, hey, come up with the idea, multiply my money. 

Okay. I don’t want to do anything, I want to play golf. So, I did not know that. So again, where I came from, that was the thing. I wish I knew that. Yes, there are more opportunities and you could, do great things. Actually, here again, the environment, everything. the government support and your, entrepreneur stuff, you can shine. 

Actually, as you know, there are a lot of successful people here. Okay. I’m not saying I’m really successful. but I’m throwing my own way of where I came from. I think I can do a lot better, actually. So I’m striving for that every day. 

Pamela Bardhi: And to start sooner, that’s the goal, is to start sooner.

Madina Shaik: Yes. Love that. If you are in, high, school, or you are in college, start looking for that. because technically, you don’t have to work for somebody. so you could work for yourself. Okay? In the beginning, looked like a scary thought. but trust me, that will teach you a lot of things. When, you’re working for somebody, you are in shadow of a big corporation. 

So a lot of things are taken care for you. You don’t know what’s going on behind the scene. But when you have your own little corporation, now, you are the CEO, you are the, admin person. You are the accountant, You are everything. Okay? So you learn faster. That’s my advice for folks, who are still in college or high school.

Pamela Bardhi: I love that. Medina.

Pamela Adida: Medina, thanks so much for sharing your story

Pamela Bardhi: Oh, my goodness. It’s been so cool to hear your story. where you started, how you’ve pivoted, where you are now, all the tips and tricks. to how you’ve been building this incredible company in less than three.

Just thank you so much for sharing your story here today. And, oh, my goodness, I can’t wait to see what you do from here on out with these new builds. and the assisted livings and all of that stuff. now you’ve got to let everyone know where to find you and your awesomeness. 

Madina Shaik: This is our company website is, Makan M-A-K-A-A-N. investmentgroup.com. It’s a one word. so we have contact information on the website and, also, our, deals, upcoming deals. all, the events will be there. Again, it takes less than 30 seconds, I promise. you just put your, name, and, contact info. Like, it could be email or phone number, and just submit it. It goes to our crm. you will be in the distribution again. 

If you get tired of, you can always, unsubscribe. But I would say it’s a really good information. We have a lot of, free webinars, how this multifamily thing works. and how the ways of investing your, 401 Ks or your, Ira. So there are a lot of, tips you can, pick up even though you are not ready to invest. that even you don’t have resources to invest right now. It’s always good to, hear, hey, this is a possibility there.

And, maybe when I grow up, I want to invest or I want to, do my own real estate. So I would recommend people to, register on the website and, listen to our, folks. We do that, monthly free webinar on, the multifamily investing. And also sometime we bring, some CPAs. Ah, financial strategists. They have a lot of information to share. So, I would say, just register on the website.

Pamela Bardhi: I love that. Medina, thank you so much for being here today. for sharing your story, your wisdom, everything my you. Thank you. 

Madina Shaik: Thank you, Pamela. Hopefully we’ll meet again.

Pamela Bardhi: Absolutely. Thank you.

Underdog is always dropping on Thursdays. Catch us next week

Pamela Bardhi: So that’s it for today’s episode of Underdog. Catch us next week. Always dropping on Thursdays. And remember, if you’re interested in real estate or want to learn how to create more money and magic in your life. check out MeetwithPamla.com and let’s chat. Sending you so, so much love.